Is this a legitimate concern, or am I overthinking it?

[RaceU4her]

I always have some anxiety with tube amps, ive had enough of mine and seen enough of others blow up at inopportune times that I just don’t fully trust any of them and would never gig without some kind of back up.

 

[dk_ace]

In years of gigging a mesa, I never had a tube fail. Before I’d Jack with trying to carry and change tubes at a gig, I’d be way more likely to have some sort of small backup solution.

D

 

[metropolis_4]

Screw it, I’m gonna find a way to make it work. This thing sounds too good to part with it over this.

 

[Life Eats Life]

Broke the AI …

View attachment 13439

That reminds me of my f’n brain

 

[SeeD]

So I just got this Mark VII and it sounds

But dealing with the incomprehensibly stupid location of the power cord jack () made me realize just how tight it is in that shell… and I realized if I ever had a tube go bad at a gig I’d be completely screwed since you have to take that whole thing apart to get to the tubes.

I’m really risk averse with my gigging gear… I feel like I’m going to worry about using this thing live without a backup.

You just got the thing, enjoy it!

 

[TubeStack]

That’s it. You need a second backup Mark VII that will sit on top.

 

[Enchilada Jones]

Chances are really good that if a tube fails mid set you could switch to the Stomp and no one in the audience would even notice, assuming the Mesa is mic’d to FOH.
so just gig with the back up and let the tube ‘possibly fail’ at home where the only one who will notice a difference is listening.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Broke the AI …

View attachment 13439

 

[metropolis_4]

That’s it. You need a second backup Mark VII that will sit on top.

I’m thinking two rack mounted in a rack with an AxeFX

 

[TubeStack]

I’m thinking two rack mounted in a rack with an AxeFX

 

[FuzzyAce]

 

[laxu]

I’m thinking two rack mounted in a rack with an AxeFX

Who are you, John Petrucci?!

 

[Gearzilla]

I’m thinking two rack mounted in a rack with an AxeFX

…with two IIIs for the full backup package.

 

[metropolis_4]

Who are you, John Petrucci?!

My cover is blown

 

[la szum]

The one thing that is pretty cool about Mesa amps, in general, is they tend to be biased
super cold compared to other amps. They are definitely not running "hot" in the grand
scheme of things.

 

[Bruce]

So I just got this Mark VII and it sounds

But dealing with the incomprehensibly stupid location of the power cord jack () made me realize just how tight it is in that shell… and I realized if I ever had a tube go bad at a gig I’d be completely screwed since you have to take that whole thing apart to get to the tubes.

I’m really risk averse with my gigging gear… I feel like I’m going to worry about using this thing live without a backup.

It’s true Mesas builds are like looking under the hood of a Japanese car, everything is tight and hard to get to. But…….more often than not tube problems give warnings before failure. Plus, backups these days are incredibly portable anyway. IMO if I wanted to use a tube amp for work, this wouldn’t stop me.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Who are you, John Petrucci?!

No.

He has 2 Axe Fx's.

 

[Byrdman]

Just bring it, plug it in but not use it and just go direct with a Stomp. No one in the audience will know the difference. #1 is the backup for #2.

































J/K Put your big boy pants on and blow the F-ing house down

 

[Baba]

I wouldn’t avoid an amp out of fear something may go wrong with it.

i am def not swapping around tubes in the middle of a gig. i bring backups but i dont bring extra tubes.

These.

 

[Desertdweller]

So I just got this Mark VII and it sounds

But dealing with the incomprehensibly stupid location of the power cord jack () made me realize just how tight it is in that shell… and I realized if I ever had a tube go bad at a gig I’d be completely screwed since you have to take that whole thing apart to get to the tubes.

I’m really risk averse with my gigging gear… I feel like I’m going to worry about using this thing live without a backup.

Chances are you will never blow a preamp tube at a gig. They usually go microphonic or noisy first, and you can complete a gig like that, it's a mild annoyance but it's generally ok.

Bring a spare pair of 6L6s and a couple extra fuses and you'll be fine. I've played hundreds of gigs with tube amps and only had one fail once, replaced the blown fuse and a pair of power tubes and carried on with the gig.

For the cable, get a little IEC extender off Amazon for $10 or so, like this: